Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Qingtong, Lord Lad of the East

In the mid to late 4th century CE, messianic Daoist texts particularly those of the Shangqing sect mention the Divine King known as Qingtong, whose island home known as Fangzhu was also the location of the Hot Water Valley (Tanggu) and the fabled Fusang Tree. Qingtong means literally the "Blue-Green Lad" as qing is a blue-green color, but in scholarly literature he is usually referred to as Azure Lad, Green Lad or Blue Lad. He is also called the "Blue-Green-Clad Lad."

The Qingtong theme developed from older beliefs in Dongwanggong the "King Father of the East." Indeed, Qingtong took not only most of the roles of the Eastern King, but also of his consort Xiwangmu "Queen Mother of the West." His home region is also known as the "Eastern Florescence" or the "Blue-Green Florescence" as blue-green is the color of the East in Wuxing cosmology. So, "Blue-Green Lad" is synonymous with "Eastern Lad."

Early texts place Dongwanggong not only in the Eastern seas but decidedly in the southern regions, i.e., to the southeast. In the Zhouli ("Rites of Zhou") redacted around 130 BCE, but containing material mostly from the Zhou Dynasty, Dongwanggong, known by one of his alternate names, Mugong ("Wood Sire"), is said to reside at Chien-mu "the Determining Tree."

The Huainanzi (2nd century BCE) says of the Chien-mu Tree:

The Chien-mu is in Tu-kuang. All the gods ascended and descended by it. It cast no shadow in the sun and it made no echo when someone shouted. No doubt this is because it is the center of Heaven and earth.

As the Chien-mu tree casts no shadows at some point in the year, we should suspect an equatorial location. The Shanhaijing, from about the same period as the Huainanzi, confirms the statement of the Chien-mu Tree casting no shadow and adds:

Beyond the South Sea, between Black River and Green River. . .There is a tree with green leaves, a purple trunk, black blossoms, and yellow fruit called the Chien-mu tree. For one thousand feet upward it bears no branches, and there are nine tanglewoods, while underneath there are nine root twinings. Its fruit is like hemp seed; its leaves resemble bearded grass. T'ai Hao used to pass up and down by it.

In the Shangqing and other medieval texts, the Chien-mu "Determining Tree" is equated with the Fusang Tree, and this probably was also the case in more ancient times judging from the similar geography and characteristics. Medieval sources also place Dongwanggong's home on the island of Penglai suggesting a further equation with this fabled location.

Penglai along with the other paradise islands was famed for its location to the east, but ancient sources also confirm that this should be specifically to the southeast. According to Liezi(4th century BCE), there were originally five paradise islands beyond the eastern seas that floated on the backs of great turtles. A giant caught two of these islands with a fishing line to sacrifice them for tortoise shell divination causing two islands to float away. The remaining three isles of the blest led by Penglai were located near the Ta-Ho a great abyss into which "the waters from the eight points of the compass and from the uttermost parts of the earth, and from the streams of the Milky Way all flow." And it is further states that "this they do without causing any appreciable change in the depth of the 'Abyss."

Zhuangzi from about the same period as Liezi calls this cosmic drain into which all waters flow the Weilu and notes that "it never empties."

In the Chuci, a collection of poems from the state of Chu dating to the Warring States period, this "gap" in the ocean is located to the southeast where the waters drained after Gong Gong caused the earth to lean in that direction.

Kang Hui [Gong Gong] was enraged, and the land leaned southeast [why?]The nine provinces were askew; the river valleys were fouled [how?]The eastward flow never fills the sea [who knows why?]

(John S. Major, 1993:64, emphasis added )

Zhuangzi also mentions a geographical feature known as the 'Southern Stygia," to which the Phoenix (Feng) flies regularly with the south-blowing monsoon in the sixth month. This deep or underworld location is also called the "Stygian Sea," and is located a great distance to the South. The 4th to 5th century CE geographical work Hai Nei Shih Chou Chi associates the dark waters of the Southern Stygia with Penglai. During the T'ang Dynasty, the Southern Stygia was located in the midst of the South Sea (Nanhai) where the goddess Lady of the Southern Stygia (Nan ming fu jen) dwelt. Medieval texts also locate the Weilu clearly in the southeastern regions of the ocean.

The Chen Kao dated to about 489 CE states that Qingtong's home of Fangzhu, described as having a square shape, is located in the ocean southeast of Kuai-chi county, the latter corresponding approximately to modern Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province. The name "Fangzhu" has been translated "Square Speculum" and probably is linked to a bronze mirror that was thought in ancient times to collect lunar dew drops during the Full Moon. There was a Greater Fangzhu proper and two Lesser Fangzhus on the eastern and western sides of Greater Fangzhu. There were two great mountains among the ranges of Fangzhu, the Great Mountain of Lasting Light and the High Mound of Night's Moonlight. Qingtong's palace was located on the Mountain of Eastern Florescence. The Lesser Fangzhus were described as circular in shape. The western Lesser Fangzhu had a large Buddhist population with many prominent stupas and tiered buildings. The eastern Lesser Fangzhu was a storehouse of treasures and the plants of immortality. Interestingly with reference to Buddhism in western Fangzhu, the Liangshu states that in 458 CE just 31 years earlier than the Chen Kao, Buddhist monks introduced their religion to the country of Fusang. In 520 CE, emissaries from Fusang are said to have brought to China a gift of a semi-transparent jewel or crystal about a foot in circumference used for gazing at the Sun (Joseph Needham, 1962: 114).

Messianic background

Qingtong plays an important role in Daoist millenarian texts through his connection with Li Hong, the end-times savior believed by some sects to be a reincarnation of the sage Laozi.

Daoist messianism traces its roots back to the earliest sages. Confucius, Laozi and Mencius all believed in a type of savior king who ruled, and shall rule, in the Teh "the age of perfect virtue. Daoists know this virtue as wu-wei and Confucianists call it jen. According to Mencius, a new savior sage or king appears cyclically every 500 years. Zhuangzi used the term "Great Peace" or Taiping to describe the golden ages, and "Perfect Ruler" or Zhenjun for the savior king. These terms would appear predominantly in latter millenarian literature. Early in the Han Dynasty, Jia Yi and the father of Sima Qian expressed expectations of a new sage or king as the period of 500 years from Confucius was fast approaching. A Daoist book, "The Classic on Great Peace and on the conservation of the Origin according to the Calendar revealed by the Officers of Heaven" was presented to the emperor requesting that the dynasty renew the Mandate of Heaven. The author was promptly imprisoned and terminated. Rebellions broke out leading up to the first great millenarian Taiping revolt of 184 CE.

If we admit to a greater antiquity for the legendary history, there are also cosmological cycles of destruction and creation that may have helped in the development of later millenarian views. The great deluges caused by Gong Gong and the battle between the fire and water gods are examples of such upheavals. These world catastrophes are usually followed by golden age periods. The Wupian Zhenwen of Ge Chaofu (400 CE) describes the deluge as the most important element in the turning of the great ages. Medieval punning on the sound "hong" as in the savior Li Hong's name is believed to be linked with the word hong "flood, vast, e.g., the first Ming emperor uses the word in his first year title with suggested millenarian motivations (David Ownby, Mary F. Somers Heidhues, 1993: 167).

By at least the mid-T'ang period, we also see the Daoist idea of the geological formation known as the "Mulberry Fields" in the eastern Ocean that undergoes cyclical catastrophic change. Due to changing sea levels and/or rising land formations, the Mulberry Fields would periodically rise above the ocean allowing people to cross on the resulting land bridge to Penglai. In latter times, messianic Buddhists believed that Prince Moonlight would lead the elect across this land bridge to hide in caverns under Mount Penglai during the apocalypse, which is characterized by a great world flood.

Among Daoists, Qingtong leads the 'seed people' across the Mulberry Fields to Fangzhu during the end-times tribulation.

During the Six Dynasties period, texts like the Spirit Spells of the Abyss suggested that a sage during the Former Han Dynasty known as Muzi Gongkou, the cryptic four character spelling of Li Hong, was an avatar of Laozi. The Shiji (2nd or 1st century BCE) of Sima Qian states that Laozi had the surname of Li and it became a Daoist tradition that future messiahs would have the same surname. Some also suggested they should have the same name as the Han dynasty sage Li Hong. Shangqing texts make Li Hong the deity of the Golden Porte in Heaven, to whom Qingtong visits to obtain millenarian scriptures.

It is Qingtong, acting as a mediator, who delivers these texts to humanity. In some versions, he must deliver them twice because people cannot decipher their hidden meanings. As mentioned, Qingtong also leads the elect over the Eastern Sea dryshod via the Mulberry Fields to his island Fangzhu, and from there to the heavenly Golden Porte of Li Hong during the latter's return.

Solar symbolism

Another example of cosmic cycles in Chinese myth may be found in the story of the archer Yi's shooting down of nine of the Ten Suns. The superfluous Suns rose from the Fusang Tree and fell into the Weilu. Although the legends do not connect the events directly with cyclic periods, the geological and climate upheavals associated with this myth and similar ones in neighboring regions indicate catastrophic and cyclic thinking. The Ten Suns are related to the cyclical ten celestial stems used in astrology and calendrics that originate from at least Shang Dynasty times.

With his residence near the Fusang Tree and "Sun Valley" (Yanggu), Qingtong has clear solar associations. He is called the Lord and Master of the brilliance and "florescence" of the dawn, and one 6th century text states that his given name is Yang "Sun." Thus, it is not surprising that Qingtong along with other residents of Fangzhu practice a type of alchemical mediation known as 'ingesting the rays of the Sun and Moon.'

Performing the Way of holding the sun in the heart, the moon in the "Clay Pellet," is referred to as "Reducing Change" (sheng i). If one is able purposefully to perform it, there will be no marantic or knotted things within. It is a Way of eradicating the Three Corpses of the body, the hundred diseases, and the thousand malevolences, of refining the cloud-souls and constraining the white-souls. If sun and moon constantly illuminate the interior of your physical form, demons will then have no form in which to hide. The Azure Lord performs it (i.e., this exercise) now as he did in the past. We pattern ourselves on his person.

-- Chen Kao(translated in Paul W. Kroll, 1985: 82)

Another important aspect about Qingtong is his youth. The theme of the precocious child and the child prodigy date back to some of China's oldest extant literature including what is believed to be the most ancient layers of the Book of Odes. Possibly this theme, which became very popular during the Han Dynasty, helped in the development of Qingtong. The Buddhist savior Prince Moonlight, who appears somewhat later, is also portrayed as a youth. In the case of Qingtong though he is only young in appearance as his age in years is great.

There appears to be a good argument for Prince Moonlight developing out of the Qingtong theme. The latter originating from legends of Dongwanggong "King Father of the East" who lives in the region of the Chien-mu "Determining Tree." The Chien-mu is not only to the East but to the South, i.e. to the Southeast in the South Sea and the equatorial region where the Sun casts no shadows at certain times. The Chien-mu acts as an axis mundi and in latter literature is equated with the Fusang Tree. Also in latter literature, Dongwanggong's home is specified as Penglai.

Qingtong's home is said to be in the region of the Chien-mu/Fusang Tree, while Buddhist literature says Prince Moonlight resides on Penglai. Both lead the elect across a land bridge to their paradise islands in the latter days. From Fangzhu, Qingtong leads the seed people to the Golden Porte of Heaven, an obvious reference to the Chien-mu axis mundi. In a similar sense, Prince Moonlight in some versions escorts the chosen people to Penglai but in others to the Tushita Heaven. The following passages, translated by Kroll, from the Chen Kao describe a flight through the heavens that starts from Qingtong's home in the Eastern Florescence.

Relaxed and rested in the stillness of Eastern Florescence,

I take aloft the screened carriage, circumvolve theEight Directions.

Looking down peer amidst mounds and ant-hills,Not at all aware of the Five Marchmounts' eminence.

Those numinous hursts are the equivalent of abyssalsprings;

Larger and smaller follow one another in exchange.

"Length" and "brevity" are lacking in any "more" or"less";

The great cedrela in just a moment is come to its end.

-So why not commission the compliance of Heaven,And take office as an unleashed spirit in the Hollowof space?

The geologic catastrophism associated with Qingtong's home region in the Southeast is noteworthy. In the tales of the loss of two of the original five paradise islands, the catastrophes of the Mulberry Fields, the shooting down of the multiple Suns and the resulting fiery water-consuming Weilu, we could have significations of the "Ring of Fire" environment.

The floating away of the two isles of the blessed could possibly preserve ancient oral remembrance of times when rising sea levels submerged whole islands. The reference to the forming of land bridges at the Mulberry Fields could also possibly refer to the climate cooling phase that started about 5,000 to 5,500 years ago in which sea levels dropped before stabilizing to current levels. During that time, land bridges could have indeed formed among some small island chains.

Here's the poem found in the intro of volume 4 of Quests of the Dragon and Bird Clan (click on pic above for more info):

Quests

Exploits grand, powerful currents of history
The search for one's origins
Desire and calling flowing deep within the blood
Serpentine and winged messengers

Forested and palmed isles in crystalline waters
A land where two holy mounts preside
calling winds from all directions
heaping up the waves from Ocean's currents

In the descent of the Sun, born at night
during the time of the great feast
In between the two great lineages
Waiting until the last minute, hiding...

The glory of the clans, the bird and serpent
back and forth along the great plain
and the long serpentine rivers
Rising and setting like the two bright orbs

Strong and resilient, a guarded heritage
A trunk mighty like a banyan
yet flexing and recovering like a willow
Deep river of knowledge and inner power

Sprawling delta split into isles by dikes
and a myriad of waterways large and small
Fish ponds and rice fields as far as one can see
A royal land of ari, dayang and pampang

From days long past, the ancestors intuited the plan
The clan constructed the superstructure and laid the wayposts
Toil and sacrifice prepared the way concealed from colonial eyes
To a new Lusung in a land known to ancient progenitors

Galleons sailing through time to steamboats
through changes on the sea and on the land
empires come and go like the morning dew
servicing the waves of our dams and sires

Switching of the guard, the southern advance
A landing on the coast of the new Gold Mountain
As in Heaven, so on Earth
Bringing the light across the seas to a new abode

After thousands of years, the turning of ages beckons
Seed to spread throughout a waiting globe
Old holy land to sleep and wait
A material cocoon to encase Sun and Moon

Mirroring the old in the new
Matching myths and landscapes, sometimes reoriented
Creating a familiar home and environment
At the same time strange and recognizable

Nexus of trade and communication networks
Mother and guardian of ships and seafarers
Route of spices, gold, metals, trade goods
Transplanted to the land of the queen's retreat

Streams of time and history converge
and diverge toward the center, new and old
cycles of conflict, hidden agendas, new alliances
A great plan without structure, spontaneous

World at war, families in flight
hiding in forest and in field, ponds
March of death for weary soldiers
Covert resistance against the red circle

Peace at last, but then, boarding the golden boat
looking for work in the amazonian isle
a clan begins its move to the east, to the world's edge
to the furthest coastlands of Prester John

New soil to host the blood
new earth to flow in the blood
Pearl of the ages moving for the first time
as before, pulling together the merchant streams

Best of humans drawn toward the magnetic mountain
New ideas flow in and out, leading the direction of thought
Migration paths intersect, denizens of the deep and air
come together to the great conference of earth's inhabitants

Arrival in the 50s, post-war, baby boom, capitalist golden age
Birthing the Cornucopia, great fertile fields
Picking the crops, odd jobs as available to send money home
A father and son working in the new land

Then son joins Air Force as the father had joined Army before
A new son arrives from the old country
Marriage near the base, near the site where it all began
A new family arises to take up the struggle

My birth at a hospital that stands now as a relic
on Thanksgiving night at dinner time
Within months off to the land of the red circle
Sister born at base converted now to Showa's park

Boarding again a plane for transpacific flight
leaving Mama-san behind to reunite with Queen Calafia
Where grandfather continues to work the land
together with uncles as the trunk and tip grows

Learning about the spirits and the stars
While a brother visits us briefly
before departing to SkyWorld to be with ancestors
Then another brother, the youngest of four siblings, arrives

Father stationed again in the ancestral land
By this time inspiring awe for its natural beauty and wonder
Imperfect start in recontact with the wild
Bite of the aswang sets the stage for the future

Going back to Cali, Cali
under the protection and guidance of the strong black one
From the South to the North with Snoopy in tow
Across Disney's land to the windy northern terminus

Learning the nature of the rock and its faithfulness
Understanding that treasures are usually hidden
the truth found just below or deep under the surface
Gaining insight in the loving warmth of the hearth

Into the 70s, the fruit of desegregation in the South
Kung fu fighting and blaxploitation
Coming of age in a mostly hostile environment
First yearnings to discover one's roots

Creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes, sea with bro and fam
Waking up to latest tunes from sister's sound system
In the snow with dogs, bunnies and birds
Nature becomes a great teacher and nurturer

Learning of the conflicts of color and race
building a body of strength and endurance
saying goodbye to the clan progenitor
Leaving through tumbleweeds and dust devils

Black dog on a plane crossing the seas
Back to the birth land in the rainy season
Memories folded and unfolded, re-lived
Severed roots replanted in volcanic soil and sand

Reconnecting with the alluvial streams and rivers
flowing from the Zambales mountains and Arayat
Going "native" and acquiring new knowledge
Hearing the voice of the Earth and Sky

Valuable clues and leads missed but not forgotten
Shadows of a hoary genealogy, a grave error
relinking with the blood and the lineages
becoming a fighter and rebel, but still without direction

Burning up the disco floor in polyester
high school graduation with Aeta queens
Instruction from the Great Feminine
returning "stateside" after soeur

Searching for family knowledge and a path
driving back and forth across rice fields and delta
following tradition and joining the military
Army boot camp and assignment to Europe

Pathfinding through German forests and mountains
Using orientation and navigation skills inherited
starting to find my causes and determination
Adventures in Paris, Florence, London and other cities

Martial arts training comes in handy
First noticed experiences with the Earth and Sky defenders
Noting dimly how the higher camp watches over things
here on the planet providing precious help at various times

Welcome to the 80s at the height of the Cold War
along comes Ronnie and Star Wars
Fulda Gap closes and a wall comes down
For each step forward, we also move back a little

Breaking free, realizing the conflict of "races"
A stop in Vegas and Hollywood thinking of the future
meandering about leads back to the university
studying politics and film, rubbing elbows with stars in LA

Back to the religion of when?
Animal guides show us paths not taken recently
how many texts were read and studied
how much energy misplaced but not completely

Tiny little Tori comes into the fold
patrolling the night with the teething pup
thinking about the direction given by grandparents
A new totemic teacher learns her calling

Leaping athletically to catch the prize
combing through the riddles of the ages
Sacramento is still an open space
Cowtown but formerly a Gold Rush hub

With sister studying college engineering
Brother heads off to Germany for Air Force stint
Adventure in the Bering Sea
combines with ethnological experience arousing curiosity

Taking a break to travel across the country by train
breaking open a book by a history master
enough to quickly gain understanding of purposeful error
connecting the dots about my own heritage and history

Pilgrimage denied setting off a new career
as person of action, messiah in my own mind
Throwing my lot into the perilous Middle East
believing and acting as if the pen is mightier

Letters as the weapons of choice
Arabian nights and East Asian unity
Taking a stand for the truth, for the cause
subversive forces start the 'civilizational war'

Blending word magic with spiritual fervor
Under the watchful eye of the Guru priestess
Winds of war and atmosphere blow fiercely, strongly
Eruption at the Axis Mundi, at Mount Pinatubu

Poetry and prose exploring the depths of devotion
Diving into the grand diversity of global culture
Learning, understanding the complex web
of history, politics, economy and spirituality

In the 50s, the blood comes to the District of Calafia
Newborn plant roots during the 60s Revolution
Coming of age for the young ones in Disco 70s
Learning and experience during the 80s transition

Timeline moves into the 90s age of Internet and Millennium
Ancient messengers move through the air
Great Equalizer brings power to the people
Mutia establishes the new center of commerce and messaging

Birth of the new generation in this line
First daughter and son of the brother
By this time, most of both bilateral clans
relocated to the new Golden State

Some of the old generation depart, some too soon
Toti keeps watch of the sky and the stars
Long hours in the caves of libraries and archives
Searching for details of the "rest of the story"

Sila, the feline hero, survivor of multiple ordeals
shows strength and opens the way
providing protection and ointment during times of woes
Two friends finding the path for the household

As one reclaims the past, the pun and the sepu
sailing through the annals of ancient mariners
riding the waves of the sea, of Kekai
To know where you're going, know where you came from

At the confluence of two rivers, floodplain of the Sierra
Holy Mount Shasta to the North, Mazama further still
In the great delta, the nation's Cornucopia
connecting to the bay and ocean, to the ports

Sacramento sets the rule and the tariff
dual epicenters to the west and south
sending out messages, hub of communication
leading in trade, bringing the nations together

Camp of Sky, Earth and Spirit stationed above and below
Leviathan visits near the confluence, twice
Sea lions, turtles make pilgrimages
Multitudes of birds come seasonally to the convergence

A new Suvarnadvipa with its own dual mountains
Llao and Skell in the valley of the sacred meal
Animal apus gather as well for exchange
of spirit and deeds and remembrance

Taking a stand on history and culture
Refuting the Eurocentric establishment
tackling the intricacies of linguistics, archaeology and more
traveling to relevant sites throughout the globe

"Holy Land," Jambudvipa, Himalayas and original "Eden"
picking up clues here and there from nooks and crannies
Thunder snow near Jerusalem and a Damascus road moment
Clarity now and an opportunity to move forward in truth

Gazing at Sun, Moon, planets and stars
watching for signs, marks and wonders
Speaking about the relevance of nothingness
Back once again to the whitened Indung Tibuan

From the roots up through the trunk, through time
streaming through the branches to leaves in prime
ancient blood lineages flow to the storied tip
legends and prophesies unlocked from the golden crypt

Memories and memes through tributaries flow
into the Great River's currents' tow
Pieces of the puzzle reassemble in the fight
restoring hidden treasures to the light

Ancestors and elders build the grand structure
Mazama for Pinatubo, Shasta for Arayat
New land split by gold dust rivers
New power center for the line of the Great Pearl

Running together with the not-so-young Lions
Finally earning a political journalistic credential
Playing the herald like a Pinoy Eagle
Creating my own grand virtual universe

Learning the code and the prognostication
Dancing like its 1999 at the new millennium's birth
Sister and husband find energy alternatives
bringing opportunities for the people of APU

A new century and scholar learns the business trade
Digital clocks survive and apocalypse fears fade
Time and age march on and bring reality back
That in our worldly lives, struggle we can never lack

Justice, liberty, freedom, equity are not free
Without engagement, success, you shall not see
As a family and friends learn to participate
We guide the politics, rely less on fate

Newborn nephew arrives too soon
a fighter, though, he meets the challenge
through the intercessors comes a boon
to family feeling the reaper's singe

Old, grizzled Jupiter guide
Yellow priestess on who I relied
Served you in your fading days
Apung Sila before you led the way

Farewell, way openers as you pass to the light
We remember you as we continue through the night
Days of ending come and new one arrives
A guiding star afresh to light up our lives

Apung Toti, Apung Sila instruct the pup
Siblings raise the banner as Sun comes up
Herald the time that ancients knew
When gold for iron comes anew

Apung Guintu sailed the sea
Apung Iru seeded the land
Uncles and aunts expanded the tree
Guided and hidden by celestial hand

The foe and oppressor over time crept
up until the weary, lowered old guard slept
Traditions kept deep within the heart
Chosen clan members keeping each part

Trunk and tip left withered and dry
time flows and truth keepers sigh
But awaited reviving time draws near
Guardians stand strong and free from fear

Forced silence reigns for many centuries
Biblical precepts and related prophecies
give way to doctrines of master "race"
Organized confusion instead of facts

Then suddenly a booming voice
pent-up secrets pour out like a flood
not by accident but by design
according to intricacies of chosen time

Under the direction of the Guiding Star
a journal to trace the steps of the great clan
lineage to uncover the lineage of old
Mountain Spirit born again for expected epoch

Founded on an infamous anniversary
Initiated for those with knowledge cursory
Winding timeline with innumerable nodes
Ancient arcane secrets and cryptic codes

Just weeks before tribulation's dawn
Lord of the Sea reigning strong
Song of the ancestors to be sung
Riding back on the waves to the highest rung

Malyari, Sinukuan, Tala, Manalastas
Maya, Mingan, heroes of the past
Alive again today in letter and song
Pun and sepu revived and growing strong

Dog man blogs all the night long
looking to right the history wronged
Belief in his struggle forged in the fire
Golden treasures brought out from under the mire

Knowledge flowed to cetacean pilgrimage site
answers found that seemed nowhere in sight
doubts allayed by songs of the spirit
problems solved by what seemed like kismet

Ancient floods receded long ago
but made their mark by the sign of their flow
riddles within riddles seemed like too much to fight
but the answer lied in Tashi's canine might

Dual mysteries on two different tracks
that with time and effort eventually converge
A great house with many floors and rooms
a giant net with innumerable nodes

Predecessors moving knowingly and unknowingly
working through tradition and hunch and intuition
and sometimes with purpose and design
creating the frame, rigging the protective hull

Messages in a mostly forgotten language
impulses from deep within the soul and spirit
enquiries to the higher board
treasured knowledge from shadowy informants

Stories of genealogies chanted
memorized line by line from elder to younger
Enigmas and clues from Baluga and Igorot
Words, names and stories of history's mystery

Great river of bloodlines from Axis Mundi's land
tributaries from Ta-Seti, Kemet and other distant places
merging into a non-coincidental stream
merging story and song with modern reality

Animal family and spirit guides
in front and back leading the way
knowledge comes from past, present and future
Canine, feline, aviary, marine and other mentors

Deep into the causes in the New Millennium
living for purpose rather than simple pleasure
family moves toward planetary care
with the High Sun as the great sustainer

Using the Net to access easily once distant works
Work that could take months and years down to hours
Messaging through multiple nodes within six steps near
Gatekeepers vanquished, barriers smashed, knowledge wins

Migrations past and present, seeing the connections
a tale of two camps that once united as one
philosophical animism and dual contradictions
Seeing Time as Lord and past, present and future as one

Within Columbia's borders, the dark enters the white
Hope and change and proclamation: "Yes, we can"
Stories of old unfold interwoven with breaking events
Moving in concert with land and atmosphere

Beautiful Venus, Aphrodite delivers the foes
a broken bridge and "father" of woes
Planet's travails push waves to the border
Public mind accepts need for new global order

Orbital home warming, a story from the past
The Great Scorching presaged our current crisis
Great cycles rewind and reveal the hidden knowledge
Once again we see the great travail, the closing of the age

Great Sun brings suddenly a great material success
Families benefit from the new economic confluence
Most precious things in life, though, still ghost-like
learning the lesson of the Earth's great struggle

Bayani, satria, defenders of Mutia's way
celebrating the hard return of the Goddess
the renovation of the regal trunk and tip
Victory but still more struggle left to go

Great stellar clock that guides the times
Camp of Sky and Earth between the lines
Destiny plays its role and karma too
Each action and reaction starts anew

Last of the Ariyang Mutia out of the blue
Dragon and Bird Clan lives but with purpose new
Pinatubo, Arayat set the new phase
New Mounts Regent until final last days

Apung Tala brings the tale to close
From the rest of Toti, the new arose
Asu Lineage completes the quest
But for future, new deeds until the rest.